Shaft-coupling.



W. A. PERRY.

SHAFT COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED JUL 28, 1908.

907,523, Patented Dec. 22, 1908.

WITNESSES INVENTOH Arm/m5 To all whom it may concern:

UNITED STATES WILLIAM ALLAN PERRY, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

- SHAFT-COUPLING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 22, ,1908.

Application filed July 28-, 1908. Serial No. 445,757.

Be it known that I,WILLIAM ALLAN PERRY, a citizen'of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, (Astoria, Long Island City, borough of Queens,) in the county of Queens and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Shaft- Coupling, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in shaft couplings, and more particularly to that type of coupling which includes a casing surrounding the adjacent ends of the shafts to be coupled, and including a wedge forced into position by the action of a key.

The object of my invention is to provide a coupling which will operate with the same efficiency irres ective of the direction of rotation of the s aft; which is easily applied, and which cannot possibly work loose.

My invention consists in the provision of a cylindrical chamber within the casing of the coupling and tangential with the bore of the coupling, together with two separate wedges which may be simultaneously forced toward the point of tangency by the longitudinal movement of a ta ered key.

Reference is to e had to the accompanying drawings, formin a part ofthis specification, in which simi ar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures, and inwhich I Figure 1 is a perspective view of a shaft coupling constructed in accbrdance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through the cou ling, taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 3, the 'sl fafts being removed; Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 33 of Fig. 1, and illustrating the parts in operative osition; and Fig. 4 is a section similar to ig. 3, but showing the key removed and the wedges in inoperative position.

In the specific form of coupling illustrated in the accompanying drawings, there is provided a casing or sleeve, preferably formed of two separate semi-cylindrical sections orfaces 10' and 11, which may bereadily secured together in any suitable manner, as, for instance, by bolts 12 extending through flanges adjacent the meeting edges of the sections. Extending through the casing is a bore or passa e of substantially the same diameter as t e shaft in connection with which the cou ling is to be used, although if this bore be 0 very slightly greater diameter than the shaft, the device will operate sub- 1 surface of the shaft.

stantially as efficiently. The bore at the ends of the coupling and also adjacent the center of the cou ling is concentric with the outer surface of t e casing, and all three portions of the bore are in alinement.

, Intermediate the center of the coupling and at each end thereof, I provide two 0 ambers 13, each of which is c rcular in cross section and of sli htly greater diameter than the bore and slightly concentric inrespect thereto. The surface of each chamber and the surface of the bore along one side of the coupling, are in alinement. In other words, the cylindrical chambers and the bore are tangential. Within each of these chambers, I provide two wedges 14 and 15, each having an outer surface curved to fit the inner surface of the chamber, and having an inner surface curved to substantially fit the outer The wedges have a maximum thickness slightly less than the eccentricity of the chambers in respect to the .bore, so that the two wedges with their bases together, as indicated in Fig. 4, do not project into the bore of the coupling, nor contact with a shaft extending through said bore.

- To s read the wedges apart and force them I I towar the line of tangency, I provide a key 16 extending through a keyway cut in the bore along a line diametrically opposite to the line of tangency. The-key is of greater width at one end than at the other, so that by driving the key into the position indicated in Figs. 2 and 3, the wedges are spread apart and their points or thinner ends forced lnto firm contact with the surface of the shaft and the surface of the chamber. The wedges contact with the shaft at points approximately one hundred and twenty degrees apart, and at points substantially one hundred and twenty degrees from the line of tan-v gency. Thus, the shaft is gripped at three points substantially equi-distant apart, and any tendency of the shaft to rotate in respect to the casing, or of the casing to rotate in respect to the shaft, will cause one of the wedges to be driven still further into the tapered space leading from the keyway to the line of tangenc The greater the strain upon the shaft, t e tighter will the wedges grip said shaft, and the direction of rotation does not affect the tightness of the gripping action, as one Wedge will tighten when rotating in one direction and the other wedge will tighten when rotating in the opposite direction.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

The combination with a shaft, of a casing 5 or sleeve rrovided with a cylindrical bore through which said shaft extends, and a cylindrical chamber within said sleeve of greater diameter than said bore and tangential thereof, two curved wedges within said chamber and each having its inner surface curved to fit the surface of the shaft and having its outer surface curved to fit the inner surface of the cylindrical chamber, and a tapered key intermediate said wedges at their thicker 15 lportions and diametrically opposite to the 'ne of tangency, said key being movable loncomes gitudinally of the sleeve to s read the curved wedges apart toward the line of tangency and grip said shaft at the line of tangency and adjacent the ends of the wedges, said 20 line of tangency and the gripping points of said wedges being at substantially equal distances apart and in the same transverse plane.

In testimony whereof I have signed my 25 name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM ALLAN PERRY.

Witnesses:

CLAIR W. FAm ANK, JOHN P. DAVIS. 

